It was in the early hours of Thursday, July 14, UK time, that Erik ten Hag, flanked by Marcus Rashford, faced the media ahead of just his second game in charge of Manchester United.
United had just touched down in Australia for the second leg of their pre-season tour, less than 48 hours after beating Liverpool 4-0 in Thailand, and Ten Hag was put up in front of the cameras to look ahead to the first of three friendlies in Australia, the first being against Melbourne Victory at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground the following day. The press conference was littered with an array of questions for the Dutchman, featuring ones on the win over Liverpool and the upcoming clash with Victory.
One member of the assembled media also asked Ten Hag about the role Donny van de Beek would have to play in his plans in his maiden season at Old Trafford. Van de Beek had worked with Ten Hag at Ajax prior to leaving the Amsterdam giants in September 2020 to join United.
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The Dutchman had failed to make any kind of impact in his first two seasons as a United player, meaning the appointment of Ten Hag, who was a familiar face for the 25-year-old, appeared to offer him the best chance of resurrecting his career and proving to United's supporters why the club had made the decision to invest up to almost £40million in his signature. The question put to Ten Hag was about what he considered to be the midfielder's best position.
"He can do both [sit deep and play high] - I know that from the past," said Ten Hag. "But his best position is his capabilities in the box of the opponent, so playing short behind the striker [is his best role].
"He has a really good smell for being in the right position."
Considering United had said farewell to Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard at the end of last season, Van de Beek, following his return from his underwhelming loan spell at Everton, was in a prime position to compete with Bruno Fernandes for the attacking-midfield berth, although there was never any danger of the latter being dislodged from first place in the pecking order.
Van de Beek had played the bulk of his football under Ten Hag at Ajax in the advanced-midfield position, meaning there was genuine optimism that he could get the midfielder's career back on track. But with less than a week to go until Christmas, the midfielder has played just a paltry seven times this season.
After making a handful of cameo appearances from the bench at the start of the campaign, Van de Beek was sidelined for several weeks with a muscular injury. He made his return in late October, stepping off the bench in the 3-0 Europa League win at home to Sheriff Tiraspol.
Exactly a week later, Van de Beek made his first start of the season, appearing from the start in the 1-0 win against Real Sociedad in Spain, also in the Europa League. That signalled the beginning of a run of three successive starts in the space of a week for the former Ajax man, as he retained his place for the back-to-back clashes with Aston Villa.
All three starts saw him deployed in the No.10 position, with Fernandes suspended for the Premier League defeat to Villa at Villa Park and then moved out wide for the Carabao Cup clash with Villa and the win over Sociedad. Van de Beek, however, was completely ineffective in all three matches, so much so that no other manager in the world would have allowed him to keep his place.
Against Sociedad, an appearance that amounted to 58 minutes, Van de Beek registered just 19 touches of the ball. Against Villa, just three days later, he registered 18 touches of the ball in 65 minutes before being substituted. Again, facing Villa a few days later in the cup, he started in the attacking-midfield berth and registered 21 touches.
To have registered just 58 touches in three games as an attacking-midfielder was criminal. The Dutchman offered absolutely no threat from the position and had zero influence on proceedings.
Therefore, that raises doubts about where United's creativity is going to come from in midfield when Fernandes is unavailable. Ten Hag has refused to move Christian Eriksen into the advanced-midfield berth, leaving him in a more reserved No.8 role, meaning Van de Beek is United's only back-up option.
Fernandes, of course, is going to continue as United's chief creator, leading the creativity levels from midfield, but Van de Beek is an insufficient back-up to fulfil the role in the Portuguese international's absence. Signing a new attacking-midfielder might be something United have to consider in the near future.
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